Becoming Elizabeth (2022) s01e04 Episode Script

You're my Elizabeth
and no one else is to play with you.
You have the backing
of every single Catholic
in this country.
I question why we are asked to fund
a war we were told was won.
Because it was! Or do you believe
stealing a girl away
in the middle of the night
and pleading for French
assistance the act of winners?
All this for me?
My wife questions
whether you and Catherine
are the best guardians for Jane,
matching her with the king
in the future.
Listen! I am meant to conduct
Enough!
You are in this room not to rule
but to learn
from those that do, from me.
What you've done does not matter.
It's what people think you have done
that is all that matters now.
Your hands are cold.
All those things that upset you
just leave them behind at Chelsea.
You'll make yourself unwell.
Is it not to your liking, Princess?
Perhaps she's tired.
She is present.
Forgive us.
My sister so oft talks of Your Grace.
Sir Anthony and I'd likely feel
quite as much affection for you as she.
Affection must not slip
into overfamiliarity, though.
I know you find me rude, Princess.
I do apologize for it every time.
But overfamiliarity
is a charge I will not take.
I held your father, the king's hand
as he lay dying.
So if not you, your kin,
I am familiar with.
Are you familiar with any of
my letters today, Sir Anthony?
Princess.
No letters have come for you.
I have told you
I would tell you if they did.
No word.
I assume it is
your stepmother, Catherine,
you're so anxious to hear from.
Strange she has not written
once in all this time.
She's unwell due to her pregnancy.
Is she?
That's not what I heard.
I know I chide you for not
keeping patience, but Lord,
my sister's husband was sent
to test mine as much as yours.
I'm late, Kat.
I have not bled since we arrived here.
You know this.
Yes, you've never been regular.
Please don't make me say it.
You know. Surely you know.
I imagined you'd taken
a silly fancy to him.
But this
When?
I could not
More than once you lay with him?
I thought I knew you, Elizabeth.
Should we fetch a woman?
You wouldn't tell your sister,
would you?
Even if you think she could be trusted,
I couldn't bear her knowing.
I couldn't bear anyone knowing,
if we we fetch a woman.
How knowledgeable you are
in these matters.
I know they can be found.
- Everyone knows they can
- Quiet!
If word gets out,
then we will both lose our heads.
You're often late.
There is no need to act yet.
If in time you still don't bleed,
I will find someone.
But for now, tell no one.
Does our Lady Catherine know?
What pain you have caused.
And shame you have brought.
Please. No.
- Fuck off.
- Ahh!
I've always wanted to do that.
How much for forgiveness, Father?
Filthy fucking Catholics.
As the idolatry
of the old faith is torn away,
we will bring hope to the people.
They will cheer in the streets
as we bring the true faith.
And will do so all the more
now the Book of Common Prayer
will be issued throughout
the country, to every parish.
The new Josiah: Edward VI.
Edward VI!
We sinners do beseech thee
to hear us, O Lord;
that it may please thee
to rule and govern
thy holy Church Universal
in the right way.
We beseech thee to hear us, O Lord.
All this 'cause you shouted at him.
That it may please thee
It's called appeasement.
It's always been the strategy.
our King and Governor.
We beseech thee to hear us, O Lord.
Everyone looks very appeased right now.
to rule his heart
in thy faith, fear, and love,
that it may always have
Regretting the bishop's release already?
To ever seek thy honor and glory.
We beseech thee to hear us, O Lord.
What is going on with you, man?
You spent 40 years resolutely immutable,
and now you're as changeable as
- As what?
- As your brother.
We beseech thee to hear us, O Lord.
Don't worry about the bishop.
Or Mary.
Or any of that.
Ministers of the Church
I have her in hand.
with true knowledge and understanding
- of the Word.
- What about them?
We beseech thee to hear us, O Lord.
What about them?
And that both, by their preaching
I can understand why
the Princess Mary is not here.
But the Princess Elizabeth?
We beseech thee to hear us, O Lord.
And my daughter they've
abandoned at home, too, I see.
They're all rather jolly
for the grievously sick.
and all the nobility with
Who's sick?
I thought the Lady Catherine
was meant to be strained
by her pregnancy.
Hence the princess' departure
from her house.
I can't imagine
what the other reason could be.
to give all nations unity
Tongues are wagging.
For the sake or your tongue,
I hope not yours, sir.
- Amen.
- Amen.
Sorry we left you behind, Jane.
It's
I didn't want to draw attention
to one of our young female wards,
lest the other one's absence was noted.
Though it was pointless.
I was asked where Elizabeth was
three times at court.
Shall we go back,
for you were all smiles there?
Seems like you are not
the only convincing actor
in the house then.
Jane, are you acting too?
Do you pretend also to find him amusing?
And what exactly is it
that you doubt, my lady?
You.
I doubt you.
What would you have me do?
I would have you do nothing.
She writes every week,
begging for my forgiveness.
Maybe I should, but
I cannot bring myself to reply.
This is what you have made me.
I've lost all compassion for a child.
A child, Thomas!
The only person that finds you
remotely worthwhile
is an 11-year-old boy.
Well, he is the king.
An 11-year-old boy.
And me.
How much of a fool am I?
Don't mind Catherine.
Or me, for that matter.
Sometimes things
that seem insurmountable,
they're often resolved quickly.
Mm.
And none of these states
that we find ourselves in
last forever, be they pleasure or pain.
And yet, Christ is the same
yesterday, today, and forever.
Do you take comfort in that?
I do.
How are you the daughter
of that dilapidated half-wit Henry?
It-it's like watching a goshawk
hatch from a goose egg.
Am I to be sent away too?
I thought you were planning
to marry me to the king.
May not be implemented
now that you and Catherine
you may no longer have use of me.
Young Jane
if you tell Catherine you think
that you have no other use
than as some pawn in a game,
how do you think she'd feel?
Every day she tells me some
clever thing that Jane said
or how elegant Jane grows.
No use of Jane?
No, we got plenty of uses for you yet.
Um hmm.
Pot washer?
Nanny goat milker?
Darn my hose, if all else fails.
Would you like that?
Never forget that you're worth
more than any man
who's lucky enough to marry you,
be he king or emperor
or Johnny Guzzlewick the gardener.
Do you know how much longer
she is to remain here?
For I would like to one day soon
not have to feed our servants
scraps from our plates.
Don't lose courage now.
I believe it is only your sister,
and I am sure
she's much more afraid of you
than you of her.
Princess.
This is Sir Pedro.
He is from Spain.
You like apricot?
She's never seen one of you before.
You've never been to the ports,
the city?
She's never been outside
the grounds of this place.
Out, if you're so afraid of it. Face it.
- "Him."
- It.
Her fear. Not you.
Why should she be scared of you, sir?
Leave her be, sir.
Sister.
Do you know what they say of you?
No.
You're already lying to me.
How can I know what
others say when I'm not there?
Of course you can.
Everyone can. Everyone does.
I'm sorry for the letter I sent.
I'd all but forgot it.
I was caught between
your wishes and Edward's.
And you chose his.
So that is why you're angry with me.
No, I'm angry because you have allowed
what I told you would happen to happen.
I know you think yourself
cleverer than me,
and in truth, you may well be right.
But even the cleverest
need learn, and for that,
they must listen
to those with experience.
Trust me, sister, I have plenty.
I wish I had listened;
to you, to Catherine
Oh, her hand was
well-detectable in that letter.
I sent it without her knowledge.
You were in her household.
I did much without her knowledge.
Don't say that.
That's exactly what they say of you.
But no matter.
That is why I'm here.
You will come with me to court,
and we'll show the lies
for what they are.
No more hiding out here
in the middle of the country
as though in disgrace.
Whose idea was it for you
to come here, of all places?
It was not mine.
- So whose?
- I don't know.
I don't know who decided it or when,
or whether I'm even free to leave.
Is Sir Anthony my host or my jailer?
W-what was he told? What does he know?
What on Earth are you talking about?
What on Earth could he know?
What is there to know?
Don't tell me.
I'll tell you all.
Confide in God and God alone.
He's the only one you can trust.
Not you?
Others will always seek to use us.
You, me, and our brother.
They wish us
to fight it out to the death
and hope they're standing
behind a winner at the end.
Don't hand me the power to destroy you
and then ask me not to use it.
I believe you would resist.
Maybe I'm more like you
than you realize.
I, too, can give in to temptation.
Be nice to Jane.
- She feels as if
- What?
Did you try and fuck her as well?
You trying to stuff your wad
into every young purse
with a claim to the throne?
I hate this.
I hate this.
It's like watching a Greek tragedy.
The ending foretold from the start.
But I didn't think
it would come so soon,
not before the milk had soured.
And I never envisaged
it would be with her.
Or that it would hurt this much.
I won't let you ruin this.
For either of us.
I've had enough of this
of this unhappiness.
Have you? That's good to know.
Don't make my generosity
feel like surrender.
I give you this.
I am giving you forgiveness.
I want it.
Please, God, Catherine, I want it.
Oh, you small man.
Don't.
Let me think you small.
It is better than what I feared you are.
What I fear you are.
You are my man.
My man.
My small
small man.
Is he pleased to know that I am here?
He was surprised, but not unhappily so.
Brother.
I do not want this. Us, at war.
You, me, and our sister,
we are on the same side.
Elizabeth has abandoned us.
Leaves Chelsea
and has not been seen since.
- They say she's been unwell.
- But I've seen her.
She's not in some kind of
hiding, whatever rumors there
I told Your Grace
not to listen to court gossip.
Why has any been allowed to start with?
I haven't come to speak of Elizabeth.
I haven't come to fight with you.
Let's do something that we enjoy.
Well
we should think of something.
Go! Come on! Come on!
What are you doing? Where are you going?
Come on!
- Come on!
- Let's go! Come on!
Yes! Just smash him!
Go for the eyes! The eyes!
Yes!
She lives a quiet life.
She eats. She talks.
How much do I owe you for this insight?
She's an honest woman.
Her honesty has never been the problem.
It's her faith that is.
And her deep desire to parade it.
Oh!
Has the bishop been attempting
to incite any more
Catholic rebellions with her?
It was not an incitation.
That's not how
your letter made it sound.
Yes!
He promised me
that he'd cause no more
Do you dislike people
not keeping their promises?
Why are the churches
stripped on your orders?
You promised my role with Mary
was to help end this religious divide.
Your role is to be in my employment.
That is not a role, sir,
but a decision of mine.
Well, feel free to make a different one,
but she won't pay you to spy on her.
Come on! Pluck his eyes out!
You saw how they resist
funding the Scottish wars.
Those churches are lined with gold.
You want to fight a war with God's money
and other people's blood?
I'd happily fight it with my own blood.
It's down here that's
gonna be the death of me.
Do you fight for your god, sir?
Or yourself?
I fight for the king.
And who do you believe
that is right now?
Yes! Yes!
Useless capon.
Win!
Thank you very much.
There's been enough gossip
flapping around your house
that it took flight and reached mine.
What happened, Catherine?
Do you know what they do
to women in the villages
who gossip, Mary?
They bind their mouths.
Perhaps I suggest it
to your brother, the king.
Are you so very proud
of your own actions
that you present this face to me?
Have you spoken to your sister?
What did she say?
I'm not here to report
my sister's words to you.
I'm here to speak my own, Mother.
It was a great surprise to me
to learn that you can't
muzzle your hound.
You've muzzled worse, I thought.
But I suppose that's
when you used your head.
Now you seem to be governed
by something else.
It is called a heart, Mary.
And what a fool it's made of you.
After all that you have been
through, all that I have seen
and admired, you chose that?
At least I chose him,
rather than was chosen.
I will call that victory in this life.
And weak or foolish
or judged as I am by you,
I will continue on and be happy.
No matter the cost,
in spite of others' misery.
I thought a great many things of you,
but negligence was never one of them.
You thought many things?
I respected you.
And then I loved you.
And then I hated you.
And I came here hating you still.
But now
now I pity you.
Oh.
What did she say?
Come.
I see Mary's back in favor.
How are we meant to keep up?
Catherine and Thomas still in,
or-or should I be getting Jane
out of there?
I thought everyone's feelings
on this Jane scheme
had been made quite clear.
Well, I see the king,
it seems, has chosen
Thomas and Catherine
over his own sister.
Wh-where is the-the sickly
whore's daughter?
- Close your mouth, Grey.
- What, boy?
Close yours, Rob.
He's talking about the princess!
And you're talking
to a fucking duke, boy.
So I will speak how I like.
She is the whore's daughter.
If I want, I will call her
a whore myself.
Little lad's full of fire!
Might want to douse his ardent flames.
Out.
They'd cut off your right hand
if you'd done that.
- Yes, but he didn't.
- Thank God.
I'll wager you'll be needing
yours for some time yet.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Get out before he changes
his fucking mind.
I knew your mother from childhood.
- I know.
- I love your mother.
Not many in court do their wives.
But Lord, if she'd been
a Princess of England
What? No! I don't I don't think
You may think that because
I'm a powerful man,
you're protected, and in a steady world,
that would be true,
but this world rocks.
You're young enough
to think heartbreak romantic
it is not.
I have said no word of feelings for her.
This is your own fiction, father.
They said I might find you here.
Why have you come?
I thought you might like
a visit from a friend.
I can turn back if you wish.
What made you think
I was in need of friendship?
Maybe it's I who's in need.
I cannot.
I cannot.
I cannot.
All your fine tutors of Latin and Greek,
yet no one taught you this?
There is much I'm yet
to learn, it would seem.
Well, no one could expect you
to know everything.
Except the difference
between right and wrong.
Do they talk about me in court?
They are far too busy
talking of Lord Somerset
and his failing war,
and whether the cockfight was rigged.
Mainly the cockfight, though,
truth be told.
So I'm forgotten.
Definitely not forgotten.
You wouldn't look at me like that
if you knew what I had done.
Whatever's occurred, I doubt all blame
can lie with you alone.
No?
No.
Shit.
Thank you
I knew you were late.
I know you are taken to drama, my lady,
but you could have spared it
on this one occasion.
That is unfair.
"Unfair"?
I have written to Catherine
near every week.
That's why I kept asking Sir Anthony
if there's been word from her.
I've asked her for forgiveness
again and again.
You think you deserve it?
You wish to show me what, exactly?
The statues.
The gold from the chantry.
The chantry?
"Filthy fucking Catholic," they said.
The Lord sees all you do for him.
He does not need the Lord
to acknowledge his persecution.
He needs an advocate here on Earth.
- The Lord Protector swore
- Don't trust the man.
Don't trust these men.
They do not act like you do.
They do not act with conscience.
He tells your brother all of this
is in the name of reform,
but he robs from us
to line his own pockets
and fund a godless war.
You are the only player in this game
worrying about the rules.
Oh!
She's more than I deserve.
That's for God to decide.
I fear I'm too much of a sinner
to give myself up
to His will completely.
Maybe you're a better man
than you think.
You coming in?
Hey.
No more.
Of before.
I promise.
I don't want your promise.
I don't need it.
Perhaps no one will understand
my marriage to you.
I certainly don't.
But I speak to you, and you answer.
I ask you to do things.
Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't
but you do at least listen.
To my thoughts, to my decisions.
- As if you were a man.
- Indeed.
As if I were a person.
I-I-I lo-look at mine,
and I-I want to squeeze
their little faces!
Other times,
the troublesome wenches
are begging for a slap.
But even then, even then,
it is with love.
- Oh! With love!
- With love!
With love!
But don't be afraid to be
a bastard to them, Thomas.
Yes. With love.
- Admonishing.
- Admonishing.
Good advice.
- Sir?
- Jane.
Sir Thomas?
You're gonna wake the babe.
Sir Thomas. My lord. My lord, please.
I'm just gonna go look at her.
Please wait, Sir Thomas
Sir.
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
Catherine?
Catherine?
Hush now, my child.
My lord.
Finally, sir. You kept me waiting.
I received a message.
Your messages are not
as important as mine.
I received this, Lord Protector.
An invitation to the wedding
of Mary Queen of Scots
and the Dauphin of France.
They send me this!
She was meant to be my wife,
and the war still rages!
When will the humiliation
you have put me
and this country through end?
They they should not have sent this.
And that's all you have to say?
No. Catherine Parr is dead.
Childbed fever.
I'm not sure.
God's will.
Her possessions are
to be returned to the crown.
And so the crown has decided
Chelsea Place is to go to you,
along with a great many other things.
You are of age, and there's
no one left to claim you.
You are rich.
In fact, the only woman in the country
with more wealth and influence
is your sister.
I am to escort you
as soon as you are ready
to take up residence.
- With whom?
- With yourself.
You will have advisors
and counselors aplenty.
Useless pissants to a man.
But I'm sure you're quite capable
of making your own decisions.
Henry!
You didn't think
she could stay, did you?
In the carriage.
He didn't
with you?
There was no
Good.
Good. On!
Come on! Come on.
You're to come and stay with me, Thomas.
Try not to argue, sir.
It won't change anything.
Not a boy and a dead wife.
I've thoroughly failed this assignment.
You must be immensely pleased.
Don't be stupid.
I sat downstairs, and
I waited for life, but
my mind, it wandered to her death.
Maybe
maybe I brought it into being.
When our children were born,
I believe I did that.
A little.
Ready oneself, in case.
I think it natural.
Catherine seemed well.
Yes.
As our sister did.
Yeah.
There were but 12 days in this world
where there was both
our sister and her son in it.
I look at Edward now,
and though I know I'm his uncle,
I I clear forget that
that she bore a son at all.
No, I see her in the king sometimes.
It takes me quite by surprise, but I do.
From time to time.
I just see the boy as he is.
Or I see Henry fucking Tudor.
That is uncanny.
And the old cunt back from the dead,
possessing him to stamp his feet.
Thomas.
No, but as God persecutes me,
I think his greatest trick
is that he leaves you
still well alone.
Perhaps it's so that I can
always see when I'm denied.
God doesn't play tricks.
On you.
For the world, it parts and it bows
as you move through it,
while I struggle uphill,
and as soon as I get anywhere,
in God steps
just to push me back down again.
What amuses you so, sir?
My dead wife?
My motherless child? Or my cursed life?
No, I'm-I'm not amused.
I'm just I'm a little in wonder
at how you see things.
Your view out onto the world, Thomas,
is a little different from the
one that the rest of us have.
So you think I'm not uniquely tortured.
First our sister,
then my wife,
taken just as everything seemed
everything seemed well.
Our sister saw her son, the future king,
carried by us ahead of the whole court
to his christening.
Would she not have wanted that day?
Catherine held her daughter,
not in panic or in pain.
She held and kissed her baby
thinking that both were safe.
God stayed his hand to bless them
by gifting them those days.
You wouldn't wish them away
because it would ease your suffering.
I would.
I do not like suffering.
Ladies, let's unpack.
We're about to start.
Didn't know where you'd gone.
A mass for Catherine Parr?
She was my friend once.
You pray for your enemies?
For all.
Pray for me, then.
Sir?
The Lord Protector sent me
to spy on you.
Tempting you with morsels
to keep you quiet
whilst he runs wild.
He wants power over you
and your brother.
Why are you telling me this now,
that you have betrayed me?
I've spent my whole life waiting for men
to prove themselves honorable.
But no matter how decent or pious,
they all had their price.
It's how I-I justified
becoming a mercenary.
Because I was no worse
than any other man.
Better, in fact, because I,
at least, was honest.
And then I met you.
And I'm beginning to see
that perhaps I
I was wrong.
I suppose you're
in a hurry to return to court
now that you're finally back here.
I have no desire to be at court.
Then what do you want, Lady Elizabeth?
I don't know.
Of course you do. All women do.
You're just trained to disguise it.
Ambition is much-admired
in men but derided in women.
But what do you want?
It will indeed serve you
to hide what you want from others,
but do not keep it from yourself.
Your father didn't
give a fuck about rumors,
but if you do, they should be stopped.
The Lord Protector should have done so.
If they have reached the Lord Protector,
I doubt he has believed them,
or any have, else there
would have been consequence.
There was.
I am no consequence,
Princess, believe me.
But still people chatter.
And however false,
how can I control what others say of me?
Oh, you can.
Lord, of course you fucking can.
You know how much this will
stoke the fires at court.
Let them burn.
Princess.
Lord Dudley.
Let my brother know I am here
and would like an audience.
Your Majesty.
I come before you with a confession.
I have been selfish and naive,
and I have wronged you.
Why say you this, sister?
I've neglected my duties.
Our Lady Catherine
was blessed with child,
so I took myself to Cheshunt
for her confinement
and was then myself taken ill.
Illness is no excuse.
Duty is more important.
Duty to God and duty to you.
I am your servant.
I know some have speculated
on the reasons for my absence.
I am here to show that there is no need.
And I offer myself to you, brother.
I am yours,
and yours alone.
Stand, sister.
The crown forgives your absence
and welcomes your return.
Let us have music.
Let us celebrate this.
A fine rehabilitation.
That would be to return as I once was.
That girl was a fool.
That girl is dead.
Ready?
Marry me.
Play.